William lobenz



' 2 S h e e t s s h e e t 1 I I W. LORE Hardening Hollow Steel Ar 10esand Apparatus for the Same. No. 241,680. Patented May 17, 1881.

ZN) H 'i 1 1 W1 'rmzss wmf NNNNNN on ATTORNEY 2 sheets-sheet 2. .W.LORENZ. Hardening Hollow SteelArticles a nd Apparatus for the Same.

Nd.24|, so.

} ATTORNEY UNITED STAIE PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM LORENZ, or OARLSRUHE,BADEN,GER1WANY.

HARDENINGHOLLOW STEEL ARTICLES AND APPARATUS FOR THE SAME.

forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,680, dated May 1'7, 1881.Application filed December 8,1879.

Toall whom it may concern a Be it known that I, WILLIAM LORENZ, acitizen of the Grand Duchy of Baden, residing at Oarlsruhe, Grand Duchyof Baden, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods of and Apparatus for Hardening Hollow Steel Articles, of whichthe following is a specification.

Theinvention relates to a process and me chanical device by which it iscarried out, whereby the cooling and hardeningis effected inside and outof the hollow article in averyequable and efficient way, as will beexplained.

In the ordinary process for hardening hollow steel articles, .bywhichthese when heated arei cooled simultaneously and equally on theirininnerand outer surfaces, the contraction of the material cannot takeplace proportionately to the radially-decreasing sections in thedirection from the outside to the inside, and unequal tensions are thusproducedin the article, whereby,when the inner hardened surface oncebecomes worn, the article is rendered useless. By the use of theinvention such tensions are prevented, so that a hollow steel tool ordie can be rehardened many times withoutdeterioration, the action beingsuch that the tool or die at each hardening is caused to contractinproportion to the thickness of its sides, so that when the inner surfacehas become worn theinner spaceis brought to the proper dimensions againmerely by the shrinkage caused by the act of hardening. for cooling isapplied partially to the inner surface and partially to the outersurface, and accordingto the thickness of the article. It is appliedeither simultaneously in regulated quantityto both the inner andoutersurface,or first only to the outer surface and then quickly to the innersurface, or first to the inner and then to the outer surface, causingthe same water that has acted'on the one surface to act on the other.The hollow steel articles are for this purpose placed in. s pecially-formed receptacles, in which they rest upon their supports, so thatthe water flowing down through the interior can find its way underneaththe lower end, and up between the outer surface and sides'of thereceptacles.

The apparatus for carrying out the abovedescribed process consists,first, of the abovementioned receptacle, which may be in two or r in gmanipulated.

For this purpose the water a more parts, according to the form of thearticle to be hardened; secondly, of adischarge-pipe supporting the saidreceptacle, through which the water, after having done duty, isconducted away thirdly, of a stand having adishshaped top for receivingany water that may overflow the sides of the receptacle, and thatconducts it through channels into the said (lischarge-tubc; fourthly, ofa nozzle, carried by a bracket at the top of the stand, through whichthe requisite water is supplied.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification, andillustrate what I consider to be the best means of carrying out theinvention.

Figure 1 is a vertical section of one form of the nozzle and receptaclein which the water first passes into the interior of the article he-Fig. 2 is a similar view of a form in which thewater flows inside andoutside of the articlesimultaneously. Fig. 3 is a vertical section ofthe complete apparatus, taken on line A B in Fig. 5. Fig. 4 is anenlarged vertical section of the supply-pipe and nozzle. Fig. 5 is aplan View of the device. Fig. 6 is a transverse section on line 0]),Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a transverse section on line E G, Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is atransverse section on line L N, Fig. 4. Fig.9 is a transverse section online H J, Fig. 4.

Similarletters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

R is the supply-pipe, through which the water is furnished to thenozzle. The supply through it is attained, regulated, or shut 0E by thevalve is, which is operated by means of the screw 1 working in athreaded portion of the pipe It, turned by means of the handles h.

The nozzle (marked 9) is supported by the braces 00 attached to the dishd, which is sustained upon the column 0. Beneath the nozzle is thereceptacle S, into which the article I) to be hardened is placed, andunder this is the escapepipe B, through which the water, after beingused in tempering, passes away. Any water overflowing the receptacle Sis caught in the dish (1, passing through the openings 0 into the funnel0, and through the perforation e into the discharge-pipe,and thence out.The pipe R, which bears the receptacle at the top, is supported by thespring-treadle T F, which forces the pipe and receptacle into the normalICO position under the nozzle; but when an article for hardening is tobe placed in the receptacle the treadle is depressed and the pipe'andreceptacle lowered, so that it is readily done, and on releasing thetreadle the article is brought into proper position under the nozzle.

The nozzle in Figs. 3 and 4 is little more than an extension of thesupply-pipe. form will do for simple articles, but for more complicatedobjects the forms of nozzle and receptacle shown in Figs. 1 and 2 arepreferable. Here the nozzle has within it the cylindrical rod i, heldcentrally by means of the ribs m, and having a conical piece, a, screwedon its lower end. By screwing this piece a upward or downward the widthof the annular orifice is diminished or increased, and the stream ofwater is directed more to the outer surface or more to theinterior ofthe article 6, as may be required.

In Fig. 1 the steel article I) is first cooled internally by the streamof Water, which then partly flows underneath the bottom thereof and upover its outer surface, escaping over the edge of the receptacle, whilethe remainder passes directly through the hole in the bottom of thereceptacle into the pipe R. In Fig. 2 the water flows simultaneouslythrough the interior and over the outer surface of the steel article.The receptacle S is in this case closed at the bottom, and fits with aprojection, P, into the hole I in the top of the pipe It. It is screwedinto the piece S, on which the nozzle bears and in which is formed acircular channel, a, that, together with the vertical channels 1" cut inthe screw-thread, serve for the escape of the water, .as shown moreclearly in Fig. 9. Thin ribs or supports a n are pro vided in thereceptacles S for the steel articles to'rest on.

This

hardened, mounted upon a spring base, Whereby it is lowered and causedto resume its place again automatically, in combination with a nozzlehaving an adjustably regulated and directed supply of water, as setforth.

3. In a hardening apparatus, the combination of the nozzle g, receptacleS,,dischargepipe R, and dish 0%, as set forth.

4. The nozzle g, having a flaring mouth at its lower end, and providedwith the rod i, screw-threaded at its lower end, in combination with theconical screw-piece A, adjustable up and down on the threaded end of therod relatively to the flaring as set forth.

5. In combination with a water'supply nozzle, g, a receptacle, S, andescape-pipe R, mounted on a spring-treadle, T F, for the purpose ofallowing the easy introduction and proper placement of the article to behardened, as set forth.

6. The combination, with the nozzle and receptacle, of the dish 61,having holes 0, pipe R, having funnel 0, and openings 0, as set forth.

WILLIAM LORENZ.

month of the nozzle,

Witnesses O. GRoNER'r, H. RASSBACH'.

